Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-18
THE CHEAP LIBRARIES.
How They RevoluttOnizsd the Modern
Book Trade

One thing which strikes all foreign
observers of this country is the high
degree OF intelligence possessed by what
in other countries is termed the common
people. 1t is no unusual thing to see the
shop girl going to her work with volume
of Dickens or George Eliot under her
arm; the young clerk porting over the
pages of Alexander Dumas and Walter
Scott, and the skilled artisan digesting
his lunch with the aid of "Progress and
Poverty" and the Wealth of Nations"
The dissemination of good literature
among all classes of our population is
due TO the cheap Libraries. They
have made it possible for the
lowest salaried clerk and the poorest
paid shop girl to educate their
taste and cultivate their minds by drink
ing in deep drsughts from the pages of
the master minds of English, French and
German fiction.
In former years the big publishing
houses, such as Harpers, Appleton and
Peterson, had monopoly OF the republi-
cation in this country of the works OF
English fiction writer's. Everyone re-
members these books. They were octave
size, from 100 to 300 pages, according TO
the thickness of the book, printed on
very ordinary quality of paper in solid
BREWER type, aud sold from 80 cents to
$50 volume. The big publishing
houses occasionally paid the English
authors, but only when there was likely
to be any competition IN getting
out the books, end for the pur-
pose of securing advance copies.
How much these royalties amounted
10, was shown when MIR. Gilbert returned
the Hsrpers the EI0 they had so gen.
erously allowed him for the iepubica-
ton of the "Mikado." Where the author
was unknown or not likely TO be COM
peted for, there the expense 10 the pub
fisher was the simple cost of menufac-
ture. Under this system the put-
fishers amassed enormous for
tunes, and published as few
works Of American fiction as they, with
any sort Of self-respect, could do. All
this time they were persistent opponents
CT international copyright, and it is only
within recent years, and since the popu-
lar libraries have had such an enormous
sale, that these OId-Jime publishers have
vsered around and become upholders Of
the copyright law.
The first TO see the advantage Of cheap
fiction was the firm Of Lloyd, DOnnelly &
CO. of Chicago, about ten years ago.
These lOng-headed men started the Lake
side Library. The initial number was
Jane Eyre. 1T was an octave volume,
with no cover, bua had an illustrated
first page. These publishers sold book
Of thirty-tWo Of these pages for 10 cents
and g siXty-four page book for 20 cents.
Charlotte Bronte's works were followed
by those of Dickens, Scott, Thackeray,
Disraeli and George Eliot. Prior to
that these authors works had never been
published in cheaper rate than 50'cents to
81 volume. l. was a revelation to the
reading public.
The enormous success Of the Lakeside
Library drew thu attention Of other pub
fishers, and shortly after that the two
MUnros Norman L. and George, Frank
Leslie, Street G. Smith, and BeeGle and
others were all publishing similar libra
rIeS
The Monros especially went in very ex.
tensively, publishing volume daily, and
sometimes two or three in one day; so
much SO that though in their recent years
this particular form of the "Sesside Ii
brary'' has not been published as fire.
quently, il numbers to-day $500 volumes
The number of volumes sold in this form
amounted to millions of copies. Il served
to introduce authors, make them known,
and helped 10 educate the people.
Gradually, however, the buIkiness of the
shape and smalluess of the type caused g
reaction against this form of publication,
and while the principle Of cheap fiction
had been fixed in the public mind, still
there was general desire to obtain a
book in the handy volume shape.
The first one to cater to this desire was
Mr.. John w. Lowell, and the immediate
success which be obtained with his
"Lovell's Library" obliged the publishers
of the other cheap libraries to get out
similar editions. "Munro's Library"
"Seaside Pocket" "Hsrper's Handy
Series" and others were put on the
market in rapid succession. These books
were very convenient and handy, but
were bound in similar paper covers and
the type was not always of the best size.
The form being now fixed to the gen.
eral approval OF the public, the rivalries
of the competing publishers brought about
a constant series Of improvements in the
books themselves, the latest of which be-
ing autographed covers of really hand
some design, and the printing OF them in
clear, legible type and on good quality OF
paper.
The enormous circulation obtained by
popular books in these libra
ries is simply astounding. One publisher
alone sold over $50, 900 copies of "Called
Back" Other editions of the same book
were gotten out by different publishers.
The total numbers OF Hugh Conway's
masterpiece sold in this firm reaches
close on to 500, 900. Rider Haggard's
'She" was published simultaneously in
six of these libraries, one publisher alone
selling so 600 copies.
One OF the results OF these libraries was
to reduce the membership of the cirCulGr-
ing libraries to almost q minimum.
q Crop report
4 blank crop report was sent out by
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